In the wake of Apple's big watch announcement, Google is wasting no time talking about what it has planned for its more mature Wear platform. In the next update to Wear, Google will deploy a feature we've been anticipating for some time, as well as some previously unexpected additions.

First up is WiFi support, which most Android Wear watches have the necessary hardware for already. The Snapdragon chips that power most of the watches have a Wifi module that has been dormant thus far, as does the Broadcom ARM chip in the Smartwatch 3. That one also has GPS, which works after a previous update. Even the Moto 360 with its older hardware should have the silicon to support WiFi, but it's not clear if it has the proper antenna setup.

The promised gesture control will allow users to scroll through lists without touching the watch. A simple flick of the wrist will do the trick. Google is also planning to make it easier to access apps and contacts from the watch, though how that will work is not yet clear. Also unclear is when this update will happen. Presumably it will be based on Android 5.1, which is currently rolling out to Nexus devices.

Most likely because wear has only sold 700k devices since July but people expect the Apple Watch to sell 30MM in the first year. Slightly different scales.

Don't get me wrong, I have a Moto 360 and I really, really want more apps that support it, but market size is certainly going to be a factor when companies on both platforms contemplate which market to target.

Kamolak

How a big company as Apple can predict such massive sale success always bewilders me.

Justin W

Well, they are Apple. They have a die-hard herd that will buy almost anything they put out, regardless of its quality/content.

Walkop

I doubt anyone will buy it here in Canada. Base price is $450, it's ridiculous. Same with the MacBook, $1549.

J.J.

true i have a buddy who had no interest in smartwatches when i showed my 360 but is now distraught that he cant pre order a $699 setup today. the apple machine is glorious

Gizmoe Alonzo

iSheep

Crafted Crows

At lunch today i was speaking with a colleague who is an Apple fan and we were talking how expensive the watch is...or i was :)
His reply was something like yea but your android watch cannot do anything that the iwatch can...

SimonPieman

It was also 720k devices in 2014, pre Xmas. It's likely to be well over a million by now.

Leif Sikorski

MusiXmatch supports it,

J.J.

true but instead of scrolling for and app you should be able to just tap the screen and it recognize music just as gnow does on the phone

duscrom

The App support is something Google has little support over. That's up to the App developers. All Google can do is make sure the support and APIs are there.

That said, I think the Biggest problem with Wear is discoverability with the App Ecosystem. It would be nice if Google would provide a seperate Play store for any and all Watch Apps.

RyanBeesley

On the contrary, it's one of the best things going for Wear. You just use the apps you like on your phone, and they get installed on your watch. You don't have to keep track of two sets of applications.

Dave

I don't think Max is missing the feature itself rather than the missing support.
It's sad to see Shazam building an app nearly instantly after the Apple Watch is released and Android Wear is still not supported after the quite long time it is on the market now.

Part of this may be because there's already a music recognition feature built into Android Wear (via Google Now).

J.J.

i agree. apple just has that power that companies line up to be apart of their machine. there sales are proven. google must work harder ,but i just think they have so much going on that they dont care enough. any company that knows there service will be seen by millions in a matter of weeks will be on board to do whatever apple asks. hopefully google copies features and improves with vengeance.

SimonPieman

#epic fail. Most of the Google Apps on your phone already have wear support. Maps, Fit, Tracks, Play Music etc etc etc.

You don't need separate apps on Wear, you bake it into your app..

frhow

Its all about perceived benefit. If a developer is hearing the iWatch is going to sell millions they would be more prone to make their app compatible for it. Most people dont even know Android Wear even exists which is due to marketing and buzz.. That has plagued Android since Day 1 and most noticeable Google Wallet vs Apple Pay. It wasnt until Apple announced it before companies started to pay attention to the benefits of it. Its the sad reality.

ihsan ışık

What happens with the G Watch and WiFi? In theory, at least? Anyone with the knowledge?

Anton Voloshin

It should support Wi-Fi since it's based on a Snapdragon chip.

Oliver Baker

Awwwwwwwyeahhhhh

Jamie Andrews

Yay I hope so! I don't want to buy a new Wear watch just yet!

Benedict

Since the G Watches use a Snapdragon 400 with MSM8026 chip (wikipedia), they only support Bluetooth 4.0. They seem not to support Wifi.

Cool

That doesn't even make any sense. That chip is being used on several tablets and they all obviously have WiFi.

Every Android Wear device that uses a Snapdragon 400 will have the WiFi capability. They're all basically using the same hardware anyway except for the Sony one which also has a GPS.

Simon Belmont

Indeedidily. The entire current Android Wear line-up should support it, but especially the ones with the Snapdragon 400s in there are a lock for it.

All Snapdragon chips support Wi-Fi. Like you said, the only difference is whether or not they support cellular modems or not.

Benedict

Wifi doesn't need to be on the Soc. It could have been added seperately. But I still hope your are right...

The LG G Watch uses a separate Broadcom chip for Bluetooth 4.0 (so does the Samsung Gear Live, and it includes Wi-Fi, too) instead of using the Snapdragon 400's solution (for whatever reason). But every Android Wear device with a Snapdragon 400 could still use the embedded Wi-Fi solution on the SoC instead (which would make more sense, actually, as it's the same solution across the board, almost). You, actually only need one antenna, too, for both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, as the hardware handles the packets so they don't interfere with each other (they use similar 2.4 GHz frequency). So, in the end, all the current Android Wear devices SHOULD be able to do it (including the Moto 360 because it uses a WLink 8.0 chip for Bluetooth that also includes Wi-Fi).

Kamolak

What for wi-fi connection will be used? wi-fi direct for faster data transfers?

I am wondering the same thing. I would assume it will be used for faster data to store songs and stuff, but I am hoping it is also to be able to get farther away from our phones when they are on the same WiFi like at home. It would be nice if the calls/text could be done over the WiFi like Apple was saying too.

Kamolak

That would be really cool.

Benedict

Perhaps notifications. The watch can act as an independent device with a google account and doesn't need a phone when connected to wifi. Also apps can get their data directly from the internet. Just a guess...

J.J.

i hope. there has been times i wanted to charge my phone, but when i go to a different floor the watch disconnects. rrrr. its probably all a moot point since i own a 360 and it may not be supported

Cory S

Secondary connection. When I'm home I dont always have my phone within bluetooth range and the watch becomes a not so smart watch.

The notifications come direct from your phone over a direct link, they're not sent from a WWW accessible service. They may be changing this, who knows, but adding WiFi certainly doesn't automatically allow the functionality you're talking about.

Cory S

Everything currently comes directly from the phone. Simply adding WiFi wouldn't add any functionality whatsoever, so they are obviously building in support for services to use it.

Simon Belmont

Weird. I can literally leave my phone on one end of the house and walk to the other end and my Android Wear device stays connected.

I've tested it through different floors of the house, too, and my house isn't small (not bragging, just saying). I guess some folks must live in areas with a lot more interference, which I guess makes sense as Bluetooth lives in a similar frequency range as 2.4GHz Wi-Fi.

Cory S

I can hardly make it into the next room. Actually simply my hand on the watch or phone sometimes causes it to disconnect.

Simon Belmont

Wow. That stinks. :(

What watch are you using, BTW, out of curiosity? I'm using an LG G Watch.

Cory S

360

RyanBeesley

Drop your phone on a charger and walk about the house wearing your watch. Even if you are out of Bluetooth range, you will still get notifications, etc. Office settings may work even better.

Probably say that you can say "OK Google remind to xxxxxx" when you have left your phone in another room - because currently I have to pick up the phone and take it with me even if I am just going to the toilet.

At a guess - I'd say Google will make use of Google Cloud 2 Device Messaging - or the newer service they are talking about - which looks like it could be an upgraded beefier C2DM server. In any case - it would work pretty much like the Chromecast Guest Mode. You speak to the watch and the command goes to Google like it does now - only it goes direct to Google and the speech to text result is then sent to the phone via push message to be processed in the same way that it would of been if it had just gone via Bluetooth. This way Notifications and what not could still be sent to the watch via WiFi if the watch goes out of range of Bluetooth. Phone > C2DM > Watch and Watch > C2DM > Phone. It's not hard.

Brad

Remember the OS update.... even if it's just to speed that along, I'm happy hahaha

joel

"Everything you do with your Huawei Watch is intelligent, easier and more intuitive. Just slide to the right on the watch plate and find frequent contacts for quick dialling and messaging. Slide to the left, or double tap the watch crown to enter the app launcher." From the huawei watch page. Info on Android Wear 5.1?﻿

Scott Harris

Does the G Watch (Not G Watch R) have wifi since the article says most Android watches do?

Brad

comments above indicate yes... so I'm excited as well!

Cool

Yup. All of the Android Wear devices with a Snapdragon 400 will support it.

Hopefully the Moto 360 and it's omap3 chip will, too. I'm sure the Google was planning this functionality well before Android Wear was even released so it probably does.

nxtiak

You know what's sad? When the first Android Wear promo video when Google announced it, it showed a group of kids riding their bicycles and using her Android Wear watch to open her garage door. We still have no idea how that works.

Apple showed off the exact same thing and working in real time..... :(

That was an example to give people ideas about what Android Wear could be used for - and in reality it's easy. I use my LG G Watch R to control all my lighting via AutoWear on the watch and AutoVoice with Tasker on the phone.

miri

It's likely a part of their Nest acquisition that's yet to materialize, but for now I imagine you could do the same (without the voice command) using IFTTT or another task automation app.

I was really hoping they'd announce NFC+Google Wallet support to compete with apple pay. Alas, that will require hardware to support it, but having it software side would at least give OEMs a reason to look into including it.

SimonPieman

My Sony Smartwatch (Androidwear) has NFC support...

Anthony Castanza

Sony has been surprisingly far ahead of the pack with the internals of their wear devices. I suppose it makes sense, they have been building watches for longer than anyone else in the niche. If only they made something that looked as nice as the round G watch iterations or 360.

Still, it needs Google to get on board with NFC on Wear to make it work with things like Wallet.

SimonPieman

I tried the Moto360 and SW3 next to each other, and on my wrist, I choose the SW3, it looked better on the wrist and square watches suit apps better. The moto looked VERY fat, looking like a childs toy watch.

Moto had very good promo pictures that disappoint when you see it on the real world, sony had very poor promo pictures, and it looks better in real life.

Anthony Castanza

I've played with all of them, I disagree but its largely a matter of personal tastes.
I bought the orginal G watch when it first came out, so I'm not planning on upgrading for a while but the Urbane is the most tempting in my opinion.

Alexei Watson

I wanted the 360 and walked out of a shop with the SW3 as well. It feels nicer. I'm keen for that metal band.

The 360 needs to be just 5mm thinner to pull off that premium look for me.

Fatal1ty_93_RUS

They should also include voice recorded replies to messages, Tap to Pay and NFC support

J.J.

hope google gets on it fast.

MrChris

It irritates me that you can't just say "Play some [inser artist name here]" on Android Wear and have it play music on your phone. When you do it, it just opens Google Play Store on your phone on that artists page, but doesn't play it. All you can say is "Play some music". Naff.

Elislurry

You can do this on Android Wear, just say "Play Music by Artist Name" works every single time. I use it all the time when driving.

Nir Galon

The big selling point of SmartWatches is fitness and health. We want to go forward to IoT and the SmartWatch is the first device to offer it, if and only if the OEMs will pack the right sensors and Google will focus on fitness and health.

I don't mind to charge my watch every day. But I do want it to made me get ride of Runtastic chest heartbeat monitor, and Fitbit scale / charge HR / to enter food to fitbit or to MyFitnessPal, etc.

The fitness and health world has so much potential, and we want it to swift us from our feet, but all the companies do just a little, and don't play good with others, and it's just a one big mess.

Like the article says above, it's just not turned on right now, and this covers all Snapdragon 400 based Android Wear watches back to the LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live. I hope this clears it up for everybody.

Richard Markert

Here's a question somebody needs to ask Google: Are we able to selectively enable/disable gestures? I don't much care for the wrist-flick scrolling, but I like the normal gesture to turn the screen back on.

Could somebody explain to me the usage case for Wifi on the watch?

Simon Belmont

Yeah. I'm sure it'll be something you'll be able to turn off in settings. Kinda like how you can turn off the always on screen. It's an option.

I assume the use case of Wi-Fi is if you're out of Bluetooth range, but still want your watch to have connectivity to the Internet. I imagine if your phone was on the same network, perhaps it could still be counted as connected to it, too.

JG

What exactly are you meaning by "WiFi support"?

Are we talking the watch still needs to be paired with a phone, but if I walk out of range, the pairing can hand off to a shared WiFi network? Or are we saying it's going to be able to work independently without having to be paired with a phone?

I'd like to see both, but I'm going to hold off really celebrating until I find out for sure it'll be able to go online itself without having to be paired.

Sure, you'll only be able to use it in WiFi hotspots, so it won't be as useful as being paired with a phone & being able to piggyback on it's constant wifi/cellular connection. And of course with its smaller storage you won't be able to install as many apps (especially if the whole app rather than a small companion app has to be installed on the watch. But it could be useful.